North Korea says it will repatriate a South Korean fisherman who defected Wednesday across the East Sea border to the North.

The North informed the government in Seoul Saturday that it will return Hwang Hong-ryon and his three-point-nine-ton ship to the South via the East Sea Monday at 3 pm.

The message of the repatriation was signed by the chief of the North Korean Red Cross. It was delivered to the chairman of the South Korean National Red Cross through liaison officers at the peace village of Panmunjeom.

Last week, the 57-year-old Hwang, a resident of Sokcho, Gangwon Province, went to the North apparently intoxicated.